Brown knows what other top privates know…grade inflation makes everyone happy and HELPS its students get into grad school. There are data showing an average student from a grade inflation university does much better than an above average student at a grade deflation university for grad school and for jobs. All other factors being equal a med school will take an average student from Yale or Brown with a 3.63GPA and a 33MCAT ahead or a 3.4GPA & 33MCAT from JHU. The numbers just look better even if you known they aren’t.
The students are happy and less stressed, the parents are happy, the faculty are happy, and the administration is happy. The more students that get into grad school or elite jobs the better the university looks to future students.